Screw top for bottles

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the creation of a safe screw top for bottles, which prevents unauthorized and indiscernible opening and reclosing of the bottles. According to the invention, this object is achieved in that a cylinder is disposed at the base coaxially to the casing.

The invention relates to a screw closure for bottles, having a safetyband that is formed by a cap that has a base on which a cylindricalmantle is disposed, which mantle is provided, on its inside, with athread, whereby the safety band is connected with the mantle by way ofcrosspieces.

Screw closures for bottles, of the type stated initially, are known(see, for example, WO 98/15465 A1). They have the task, for one thing,of allowing secure closing of the bottle, and thereby preventing theliquid contained in the bottle from running out, both before it isopened for the first time and after it is re-closed. Furthermore, thescrew closures are supposed to indicate that the bottle has been openedfor the first time, in order to indicate unauthorized opening of theclosure to the consumer, directly, and to draw the consumer's attentionto possible removal of the liquid that is contained in the bottle, orits contamination. For this purpose, the safety band is disposed on themantle in destructible manner. When the closure is opened for the firsttime, the band itself tears, or it tears in the region of thecrosspieces, so that opening of the bottle is directly visible evenafter re-closing.

The known bottle closures fulfill the task assigned to them only inlimited manner. While they are tight even after being re-closed, so thatno liquid can run out of the bottle, the closures fulfill the seconddemand on the closures, namely that of indicating unauthorized openingand re-closing, only in insufficient manner. This is because thepossibility exists of screwing the bottle open without destroying thesafety band, so that the bottle is closed and has the appearance, fromthe outside, of not having been opened again after having been filled atthe bottler, although the bottle might have become contaminated in themeantime, within the scope of the opening procedure described above. Thefunction of the safety band is thereby canceled out.

This is where the invention wishes to provide a remedy. The invention isbased on the task of creating a screw closure for bottles, whichprevents unauthorized and invisible opening and re-closing of thebottles. According to the invention, this task is accomplished in that acylinder is disposed on the base, coaxial to the mantle.

With the invention, a screw closure for bottles is created, whichprevents invisible opening and re-closing of the bottles. This isguaranteed in that during notching and heating of the bottle neck,compression is prevented on the basis of the cylinder disposed coaxialto the mantle. As a result, a reduction in the diameter of the bottlethread and thus destruction-free passage of the safety band isprevented. Instead, pulling it out, even in the heated and notched stateof the bottle neck, leads to destruction or tearing off of the safetyband, so that the safety band fulfills its task.

In an embodiment of the invention, the cylinder is hollow. The hollowconfiguration of the cylinder leads to very inexpensive production, onthe one hand, and on the other hand, the weight of the closure iscomparable to the closures known from the state of the art, because ofthe low material requirement.

It is advantageous if the cylinder is closed on its side facing awayfrom the base. The closed configuration of the cylinder offers increasedstability as compared with the open configuration. This has the resultthat even in the case of extreme heating of the bottle neck, when thecap is screwed on, deformation is prevented, to a great extent, therebyadditionally increasing the safety with regard to unauthorized openingand re-closing.

Preferably, the cylinder has a thread. Provision of a thread on thecylinder brings about a further increase in the stability of the closurein the closed state. The thread can either be a self-tapping thread thatcuts into the bottle neck when the closure is screwed onto the bottlefor the first time; in a modification, a thread can also be provided onthe inside of the bottle neck, during production, which thread thencorresponds with the thread provided on the mantle.

The task of the invention is furthermore accomplished by means of ascrew closure for bottles having a safety band, in which the closure issurrounded by a shrink-wrap film. By means of the use of the shrink-wrapfilm, opening of the bottle without destruction of the shrink-wrap filmis hardly possible; even if it does happen that a bottle is openedwithout destruction of the shrink-wrap film, there is no possibility ofdisposing the film on the bottle again without any visible changes, sothat the fact that the bottle has already been opened is directlyvisible to the consumer.

Other further developments and embodiments of the invention areindicated in the other dependent claims. An exemplary embodiment of theinvention is shown in the drawing and will be described in detail in thefollowing. The drawing shows:

FIG. 1 an axial section through a screw closure;

FIG. 2 an axial section through a screw closure in another embodiment;

FIG. 3 . . . ;

FIG. 4 an axial section through a screw closure in another embodiment.

The screw closure 1 for bottles selected as an exemplary embodiment isprovided with a safety band 2. The screw closure 1 is formed by a cap 3that has a base 31. A cylindrical mantle 32 is disposed on the base. Themantle 32 is provided with an inside thread 33 on its inside.

The mantle 32 of the screw closure 1 is connected with the safety band 2by way of crosspieces 4. On the inside of the safety band 2, retainingcams 21 are disposed, which engage behind a rib disposed on the bottleneck in the screwed-on state of the closure 1 onto a bottle. Theretaining cams 21 are provided with thrust slants 22 on their sidefacing away from the base 31, which allow destruction-free screwing onof the closure onto the bottle. In contrast, the side of the retainingcams 21 that faces the base 31 of the cap 3 are essentially structuredhorizontally, so that they are left hanging on the rib disposed on theneck of the bottle when the closure 1 is opened, thereby making itpossible to open the bottle, in functionally proper manner, only withintentional destruction of the safety band 2.

On the base 31 of the cap 3, a cylinder 5 is disposed coaxial to themantle 32. The height of the cylinder 5 essentially corresponds to theheight of the safety band 2 in connection with the crosspieces 4 as wellas of the mantle 32. The cylinder 5 therefore projects all the way intothe region of the rib of the bottle neck. The outside diameter 5essentially corresponds to the inside pressure meter of the bottle neck,so that in the screwed-on state, the bottle neck, with its thread, isguided between the mantle 32 of the cap 3 and the cylinder 5.

In the exemplary embodiment, the cylinder 5 is configured to be hollow.It is closed off by means of a bottom 51 on its side facing away fromthe base 31. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2, thecylinder 5 has an outside thread 52. The outside thread 52 can either bystructured to be self-tapping and therefore to cut itself into theinside of the bottle neck when it is screwed on. However, it can alsocorrespond with a thread provided on the inside of the bottle neck. Inthis case, the pitch of the thread provided on the inside of the bottleneck corresponds to that of the inside thread 33 of the cap 3.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 4, the screw closure isalso provided with a safety band 22. The closure also consists of a cap3 that is configured in comparable manner to the exemplary embodimentaccording to FIG. 1. Likewise, crosspieces 4 are provided between cap 3and safety band 2. The screw closure shown in the exemplary embodimentaccording to FIG. 4, however, is configured without a cylinder. Instead,the closure 1 is surrounded by a shrink-wrap film 7. It can be seen thatthe shrink-wrap film 7 extends over the outside of the bottle and indoing so covers the closure 1 as well as the bottle neck that isindicated.

The screw closure 1 according to the invention, with a cylinder 5disposed on the inside, prevents the bottle neck, including the thread,from being compressed, in order to remove the thread of the bottle neckwithout destroying the safety band 2. Because of the outside diameter ofthe cylinder 5, which essentially corresponds to the inside diameter ofthe bottle neck, deformation in the sense of a reduction in diameter isas good as excluded. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2, ashape-fit connection is furthermore created on the basis of the outsidethread 52 provided on the cylinder 5, which additionally makes removalof the thread of the bottle neck without destruction of the safety band2 more difficult.

In the case of the exemplary embodiment provided with the shrink-wrapfilm 7, destruction of the shrink-wrap film 7 is the result ofunscrewing the screw closure 1. If someone nevertheless succeeds inopening the screw closure 1 without destruction of the shrink-wrap film7, while it is fundamentally possible to re-close the bottle with thescrew closure 1 and the shrink-wrap film 7, visible traces remain on thefilm, which easily allow the consumer to recognize that this is a bottlethat has already been opened.

1. Screw closure for bottles, having a safety band that is formed by acap that has a base on which a cylindrical mantle is disposed, whichmantle is provided, on its inside, with a thread, whereby the safetyband is connected with the mantle by way of crosspieces, wherein acylinder (5) is disposed on the base (31), coaxial to the mantle (32).2. Screw closure according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder (5) ishollow.
 3. Screw closure according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder (5)is closed on its side facing away from the base (31).
 4. Screw closureaccording to claim 1, wherein the cylinder (5) has a thread (52). 5.Screw closure for bottles, having a safety band that is formed by a capthat has a base on which a cylindrical mantle is disposed, which mantleis provided, on its inside, with a thread, whereby the safety band isconnected with the mantle by way of crosspieces, wherein the closure issurrounded by a shrink-wrap film (7).